Mavs swimmers qualify for several events at state

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Mavericks finished second as a team at Saturday’s Columbia Basin Big 9 district championship meet finals, scoring 478.5 points to finish second to the Wenatchee Panthers. 

Moses Lake qualified for nine events at next week’s 4A State Swimming and Diving Championships. 

“They were relaxed,” Moses Lake head coach Tony Preston said. “They were there to get their job done and advance to Saturday’s finals, and that’s exactly what they did.” 

Districts began with the preliminary round on Thursday, where the Mavericks recorded the fastest time in the 200-yard medley relay, 100-yard butterfly, 100-yard breaststroke and 400-yard freestyle relay events. 

“They were upbeat, positive. It was just a pathway to Saturday,” Preston said. “Everything was really positive; we were able to see some best times. “(We) set ourselves up good going into Saturday.” 

Districts is a two-day event, but not on back-to-back days. Following Thursday’s preliminary round, the Mavericks held a “light” practice on Friday to focus on the final details before Saturday’s district finals. 

“We worked on some things that they want to polish up or some things that the coaches see,” Preston said. “It’s kind of nice to have that day in between, it gives them a little more time to rest and get ready.” 

Moses Lake had three district champions crowned at Saturday’s finals; senior Dylan Moore in the 200-yard individual medley, senior Luke Molitor in the 100-yard butterfly and sophomore Luca Cristoloveanu in the 100-yard breaststroke.  

“They were able to go out and race, and put their best foot forward,” Preston said. “It was really fun to watch, and fun to see them have a good time and get our guys qualified for state.” 

The top two finishers in each event at districts qualify for the state championship meet later this month. Joining the trio of district champions will be the 200-yard medley relay team (Moore, Cristoloveanu, Molitor and junior Sam Molitor), the 200-yard freestyle team (Sam Molitor, junior Sam O’Shea, Moore and Luke Molitor) and the 400-yard freestyle relay team (freshman Lennox Leeder, junior Josiah Wallace, sophomore Matt Molitor and O’Shea). In individual swims, Moore also qualified in the 100-yard backstroke, Leeder in the 500-yard freestyle and Wallace in the 100-yard breaststroke.  

Additionally, Maverick freshman Torin Trexler will swim in both the adaptive 50-yard freestyle and 50-yard backstroke at the state championship meet. 

“They’re excited,” Preston said. “We got all three relays. Lennox, Luca and Josiah, this (will) be their first time swimming at state, so that’ll be great that they made those individual events. Excited to get two more weeks in the season.” 

The Panthers won district championships in eight events, including all three relays. 

“They have depth to their lineup,” Preston said. “They were able to win all three relays by doing that ... I wasn’t really surprised at how well they performed; they did great, we did great. We have some depth, but they were deeper.” 

Moore and Luke Molitor both competed in individual events at last year’s state championship meet, while Wallace was a member of Moses Lake’s state-qualifying 200-yard medley relay team that reached the finals. 

“It’s invaluable,” Preston said of the returning state experience. “Luke and Dylan, they’ve both been there before and also, we were able to swim in that pool a month ago at the Kentridge Invite. A lot of these kids have that experience in that pool, so that’ll be nice going into state. It won’t be new to them – most of the nine guys have swum there before.” 

Swimming events at the state championship meet begin at 6:15 p.m. Feb. 21 for the 4A classification. The finals begin at 6 p.m. Feb. 22. Both days are hosted at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.